Automatic flow control valve

ABSTRACT

The present invention refers to an automatic flow control valve which comprises two water passage stages, and it is installed in electric water-heating appliances, such as showers and taps, the purpose of which is to control the activation of the electrical resistance according to the pressure and water flow of the hydraulic system. 
     More specifically, the present invention refers to a flow control valve comprising a simple and mainly efficient structure constituted of a mobile body ( 10 ) provided with a central orifice for the through-passage of water ( 11 ), which is disposed on a return component ( 12 ) and positioned on the water outlet channel ( 8 ) or on another water passage inside the heating appliance.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention refers to a flow control valve applied to electric water-heating appliances, such as showers, taps and the like. More preferably, the valve that is the object of the present invention is provided with innovative technical characteristics which allow the flow of the fluids from these appliances to be regulated in two stages.

More specifically, the present invention refers to a flow control valve which comprises a structure that enables the use of electric water-heating to appliances both at high pressure sites, and, advantageously, at sites where the hydraulic systems present low pressure, without compromising the water flow and comfort during shower baths.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Innumerous models of electric water-heating appliances are known in the prior art, since this kind of appliance reveal a relatively low cost and are easily installed. However, all these appliances known in the state of the art reveal certain inconvenience related to the design and manufacturing processes which ultimately results on problems for users during installation and operation thereof.

More specifically, it can be observed that electric water-heating appliances known in the state of the art are designed and adjusted to be electrically driven only when a relatively high pressure is attained in the drive chamber.

Put otherwise, in the attempt to obtain safety levels when the electrical resistance is operated, the appliances of the state of the art are designed and manufactured so that the electrical resistance is operated only when the water flow pressure inside the activation chamber is relatively high.

Hence, an alternative adopted to achieve high pressure levels inside the activation chamber in electric water-heating appliances of the state of the art is dispose limitations of passage of the water flow between said activation chamber and the heating chamber, whereby compromising the operation of the appliances, since it is necessary to retain much water to activate the electrical resistances.

Moreover, with the aim of obtaining this pressure adjustment, it is common that the appliances of the state of the art are designed in order to provide a activation chamber that is equivalent to the water flow, which is defined by the manufacturers themselves. Nevertheless, as those person skilled in the art is aware, a hydraulic systems varies according to the installation site, for example, the pressure of a water tank of a land-level household is much lower than the one of a building.

Thus, it is clear that the proportionality established in the designs of activation chambers for electric heating appliances of the state of the art is relative, and cannot be considered as a standardized factor.

In this sense, it can be noted that an appliance may have innumerous working problems when installed at sites with pressures that are too low or too high. More particularly, when an appliance of the state of the art worked with a low pressure hydraulic system, it will more than likely not work correctly because the activation chamber will not have enough pressure or, eventually, it may have on and off variations during shower baths. Logically, this kind of problem may compromises the operation and also results in burning the appliance.

The same appliance installed in a hydraulic system with very high pressure will result on a different problem, since the drive chamber may not support such pressure, which results in risk that the electrical resistance will not heat the water flow satisfactorily and, consequently, the user will not have the desired comfort during shower baths.

Another inconvenience noted in the appliances of the state of the art is in relation to the climate change of today, as said appliances are designed to be activated by a certain water flow. On hot days, the electrical resistance may suffer from overheating, as it is unable to cool it due to the limitations imposed by the characteristics of proportionality of the activation chamber.

Finally, these limitations compromise the temperature selection available on this kind of appliances, since the activation chambers are designed to assure a minimum pressure to achieve the activation of the electrical resistance.

Therefore, it is important to clarify that although functional, the electric heating appliances known in the state of the art presents certain problems, inconveniences and limitations related mainly because the variations in the hydraulic systems which result in efficient heating, comfort of the shower baths and useful life of these appliances.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, an objective of the present invention is a two-stage flow control valve to be installed in electric water-heating appliances which, in an objective and efficient manner, solves and improves the working of these appliances, but mainly, allows its installation in any hydraulic system, whether it be low or high pressure.

More preferably, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a control valve that comprises a simple, but efficient, arrangement, capable of automatically regulating the pressure in the activation chamber and, consequently, allowing safe operation under reduced pressures.

An additional objective of the present invention is a flow control valve which increases the appliance's selection of temperatures available and, mainly, manages to reflect more precisely and accurately the temperature desired by the user during the shower bath, as it is capable of automatically increasing the pressure in the activation chamber, providing the activation of the electric contacts with lesser flow:

It is another objective of the valve of the present invention eliminate the risks of oscillation in the activation chamber at sites with low pressure, assuring the continuous functioning of heating the water and, consequently, guaranteeing a comfortable shower bath for users. Additionally, as there is no risk of oscillation in the pressure of the activation chambers, the present invention increases the useful life of the electrical resistance, as well as the heating appliance itself.

A further objective of the present invention is a flow control valve which cool the electrical resistance on hot days in a safer manner, as it has no restrictions in the activation chamber as in the state of the art, and also due to the fact that it automatically releases the flow and circulation of the water flow in its interior.

In this sense, the flow control valve, according to the present invention, comprises a structure disposed preferably, but not limited to this position, on the water outlet of the heating chamber, which is constituted by a mobile part having a central orifice which is supported on a spring whose resting position is stretched, such that when there is no water flow, said mobile part is disposed inside or partially inside the end of the water passage of the heating appliance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objectives, technical effects and advantages of the flow control valve which has two activation stages, according to the present invention, are recognizable for those skilled in the art, based on the accompanying schematic drawings, which illustrated preferred, not limitative, embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a side cross sectional view of an electric water-heating appliance model provided with a valve according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a detailed side view of the control valve illustrated in FIG. 1, positioned when the water flow pressure is low or there is no flow;

FIG. 3 shows a detailed side view of the control valve illustrated in FIG. 1, positioned when the water flow pressure is high;

FIG. 4 shows a top view of the flow control valve illustrated in the previous drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Preliminary, it is important to reiterate that the flow control valve according to the present invention will be described below in accordance with a preferred, not limitative, embodiment, as it can be applied to innumerous electric water-heating appliance models (1) constituted by a water inlet channel (2), interlinked to a activation chamber (3) which is in fluid communication with the heating chamber (4), in which there is housed an electrical resistance (5) driven by means of electric contacts (6) disposed on said drive chamber (3). Said heating chamber communicates with the shower head (7), preferably by means of a water outlet channel (8).

According to the drawings above indicated, the flow control valve (9), according to the present invention, comprises a mobile body (10) provided with a central orifice (11) for the through-passage of water where the water passes in the first stage, said body being supported on a return component (12). More preferably, said mobile body (10) is constituted by a base (13) whose upper surface is provided with a protrusion (14), in which said central through-passage orifice (11) is formed.

As the persons skilled in the art will recognize, the shape of said protrusion (14) may be any shape, for example: cylindrical, rectangular, triangular, since it has an arrangement corresponding to the water outlet channel of the appliance, at the site where the present valve is installed.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, said protrusion (14) comprises a tronc-conical shape which assists the water flow passage at the resistance threshold of the return element (12). And more preferably, said protrusion (14) is designed to penetrate inside, or at least partially, the water outlet channel (8), because its objective is to restrict the passage of water only through the central passage orifice (11).

Said return component (12) is disposed in contact with the lower surface of said base (13), such that in its resting condition, that is, with low flow or inactivity of the water flow, said return component remains in the extended position, making said mobile body (10) maintain the contact against the water outlet (8) of an electric water-heating appliance (1).

Further, in order to assure the correct position and working of the return component (12), the lower surface of said mobile body (10) comprises a small scaling like a step (15) which fastens one of the ends of said component (12).

In combination of said scaling (15), the support surface of said return component (12) also has fastening elements, so as to guarantee the positioning and aligned movement of said mobile body (10). Said fastening elements can be of any kind, such as, for example, fit-in, glue, adhesives, soldering, or a combination thereof.

Preferably, said return mechanism (12) is a spring, such as a coil spring or, also, an elastic-behaving material.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the flow control valve (9) according to the present invention acts as follows:

-   a) when the water flow is low, with pressure below the amount needed     to activate the electric contacts, the water enters into the heating     chamber (4), and next passes by the flow control valve (9) of the     present invention, at this point, bearing in mind that the flow is     not strong enough to move the return component (12), the pressure in     the activation chamber (3) increases and, consequently, it is     possible to activate the electric contacts (6) of the resistance (5)     at sites where the hydraulic system presents a low pressure. -   b) when the flow is normal or high, the water flow which circulates     the appliance (1) is strong enough to overcome the natural     resistance of the return component (12), such that the water outlet     channel (8) of the heating chamber (4) is wholly unobstructed,     whereby eliminating any means of restriction that might compromise     the working of the appliance.

Accordingly, the use of the control valve (9), according to the present invention, allows a same electric water-heating appliance to be installed independently of the local hydraulic conditions, without requiring any kind of structural adaptation or changes. And mainly, it is possible to maintain the original working characteristics, both in low and high pressure installations.

Therefore, the present invention can be called a two-stage automatic flow control valve, since it does not require user intervention or adjustment for use under low or high water flow pressures, the valve now described provides this change automatically.

As explained above, in the first stage, the valve works with low flow in the water tap, making the valve restrict the passage of water and allows it to pass through only the central water passage orifice (11). As a result, the pressure on the pressure controller in the activation chamber (3) becomes equivalent to that of high flows. In the second stage, wherein the valve (9) works with greater pressures and flows in the water tap, the mobile body (10) moves, fully opening the water outlet channel (8) of the heating chamber (4), such that besides passing through the central orifice (11), the water passes by the entire edge of said mobile body (10), providing greater flow than in common showers.

Finally, it is worth while emphasizing that depending on the characteristics of the electric water-heating appliance, the automatic flow control valve according to the present invention may be easily installed, preferably in a water through-passage after the diaphragm of the activation chamber (3).

Thus, in view of the foregoing, it can be noted that the automatic flow control valve, object of the present invention, besides comprising a structure that is simple to manufacture and install, comprises innovative characteristics capable of providing a series of advantages and new technical effects for electric water-heating appliances in general. Particularly, its structure provides increase the efficiency and yield, but mainly in terms of the installation flexibility in different hydraulic systems.

In an alternative embodiment, at sites where the hydraulic system presents a very high pressure, it is possible to introduce the valve according to the present invention at the water inlet, that is, at the site which precedes the diaphragm of the activation chamber. In this embodiment, the valve acts as an automatic flow reducer, that is, under high pressures it reduces the flow and under low pressures it does not restrict the flow, such as occurs with conventional fixed reducers known today.

As the persons skilled in the art are well aware, numerous changes and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings, without distancing from the scope of protection, as defined in the accompanying claims. 

1. AUTOMATIC FLOW CONTROL VALVE for electric water-heating appliance (1), which comprises a mobile body (10) provided with a central water through-passage orifice (11), said mobile body (10) being disposed on a return component (12) and is provided with a base (13) whose upper surface has a protrusion (14), on which said central through-passage orifice (11) is formed.
 2. AUTOMATIC FLOW CONTROL VALVE, according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion (14), disposed on the upper surface of the base (13) of said mobile body (10), comprises a cylindrical, rectangular, triangular shape.
 3. AUTOMATIC FLOW CONTROL VALVE, according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion (14), disposed on the upper surface of the base (13) of said mobile body (10), comprises a tronc-conical shape.
 4. AUTOMATIC FLOW CONTROL VALVE, according to claim 1, wherein said protrusion (14) is disposed at least partially in the water outlet channel (8) of the heating appliance (1) in the resting position of the return component (12).
 5. AUTOMATIC FLOW CONTROL VALVE, according to claim 1, wherein said protrusion (14) is disposed inside the water outlet channel (8) of the heating appliance (1), in the resting position of the return component (12).
 6. AUTOMATIC FLOW CONTROL VALVE, according to claim 1, wherein the lower surface of the base (13) of said mobile body (10) comprises a fastening scaling/step (15) of the return component (12).
 7. AUTOMATIC FLOW CONTROL VALVE, according to claim 1, wherein said return component (12) comprises fastening elements on its lower portion, such as fit-in, glue, adhesives, soldering, or a combination thereof.
 8. AUTOMATIC FLOW CONTROL VALVE, according to the of claim 1, wherein said return element (12) is a spring or elastic-behaving materials.
 9. AUTOMATIC FLOW CONTROL VALVE, according to claim 8, wherein said return element (12) is a coil spring.
 10. AUTOMATIC FLOW CONTROL VALVE, according to claim 1, wherein it is disposed in a water passage inside the heating appliance, positioned before or after the diaphragm of the activation chamber. 